As music lovers – whether live or pre-recorded – we all have a vested interest in protecting our hearing. Imagine the gradual and unstoppable loss of enjoying the music that plays such an important role in your life. Music lovers also face a predicament that foodies (for example) don’t face: You can eat a thousand meals that are bursting with flavor and your taste buds will not lose their ability to taste. Unfortunately, you can go to only a few shows and your ears may begin to lose their ability to hear. The same applies to hearing loss from constant overly loud playback through personal audio devices and home systems, or noisy environments in general. For many of us, our very passion for music is what sometimes causes us to lose our ability to hear the thing we love.

But don’t fret – it’s never too late to start protecting your ears from future damage.

Wear quality ear plugs when you go to live shows.

Limit your exposure to loud environments.

Don’t compensate for loud environments by raising the volume of your personal audio.

If it sounds like it’s too loud – it’s too loud.

As music lovers, we’re all partners in the enjoyment of wonder and beauty of music, let’s enjoy for as long as possible!

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) can affect you regardless of the music you listen to, where you listen to it, or your age. The worst thing about NIHL is that it can be very gradual and you may not know you have it until it's too late. We've included a couple of interesting videos on the subject, but if you only have time to watch one, please watch this extreme case of NIHL:

An MTV PSA from 1991 with some great info, (it’s a pretty cool time capsule too).

How to know if you have hearing loss.

For more information on tinnitus and other hearing issues and a chart of when hearing loss begins, please check out our blog piece How Loud Is Too Loud.